The present invention relates to an absorbent article, such as a diaper or an incontinence guard, which includes a front part, a rear part and a crotch part which lies therebetween, and which further includes an absorbent body which is enclosed between an outer, liquid-impermeable casing sheet and an inner, liquid-permeable casing sheet which latter sheet lies proximal to the wearer""s body when the article is in use, and longitudinally extending flaps of flexible material located on both sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis of the article, wherein each of the flaps is attached to the inner casing sheet along one of its longitudinal edges, and wherein the flaps extend transversely in towards the longitudinal symmetry axis of the article from their respective attachment points.
An absorbent article of this kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,116. The flaps are intended to inhibit lateral flow of urine along the top sheet of the article and form side barriers which prevent lateral leakage of solid excrement. The flaps are also intended to form together with the inner casing sheet xe2x80x9ccontainersxe2x80x9d which isolate the skin of the wearer from contact with excrement stored therein.
The main object of the present invention is to improve the isolating properties of the flaps of an absorbent article of this kind.
This object is achieved with an absorbent article of the kind defined in the introduction which is characterized in that the flaps are joined to one another in the crotch part of the article. This construction reduces the risk of the flaps being brought to a wrong position when putting on the article or as a result of undesirable lateral movement whilst the article is worn. Furthermore, the join between the flaps is operative in retaining the mutual distances between the mutually facing edges of the flaps whilst the article is worn.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the flaps are joined by means of a narrow strip of liquidpermeable or liquid-impermeable material and are tapered from their respective points of attachment towards respective front and rear article parts. The join or connection between the flaps is located longitudinally between the wetting point and the fecal discharge point, and the flaps extend longitudinally from a forward part of the front article part to a rearward part of the rear article part. Elastic devices in the form of elastic threads extend preferably along the mutually facing longitudinal edges of the flaps.
According to another advantageous embodiment, the join between the flaps is effected with a piece of material which is attached to the flaps and to the inner casing sheet respectively along its opposing edges by means of transverse attachment lines. In this embodiment, when the article is worn the piece of material will form a wall which delimits the rear article part from its front part and therewith prevents contact between urine and feces.